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What We Lost When We Quit Using Crappy Old Web Forums
17 hours ago
- Web forums were early internet community tools that declined as social media emerged, despite their initial appeal.
- Usenet was the first forum-like system, but web forums added graphics and multimedia, changing user interaction.
- Early forum software included WIT, WebCrossing, UBB, Slash, vBulletin, phpBB, and Discourse.
- BBCode was a key markup language for forums, providing controlled formatting; it influenced Godot game engine.
- Forums lost to social media due to novelty, scale issues, and the burden on community managers.
- Users may have 'shiny object syndrome,' but forums could offer niche communities that modern social platforms lack.
Museum of the Human Web
13 days ago
- The internet was built by people, not algorithms or machines, through human decisions and collaboration.
- For over fifty years, from ARPANET to the eve of ChatGPT, creation was human-driven, without AI or synthetic aids.
- The era of human-only creation is ending as machines become collaborators, turning past artifacts into relics.
- The Museum of the Human Web collects objects from that human era, with proceeds benefiting the Internet Archive and Computer History Museum.
The 'Father of the Internet' is finally retiring
19 days ago
- Vinton Cerf will retire from his role as Google's chief internet evangelist after more than 20 years.
- Cerf, co-architect of TCP/IP, is recognized for foundational internet protocols that enabled global networking.
- At a conference, Cerf and other experts discussed the durability of open source systems and the future of AI agents.
- Cerf predicted AI agents will require formal interoperability standards, not natural language, to ensure precise communication.
- He highlighted concerns about centralization in AI models and emphasized the need for standardized protocols in an agentic economy.
- Anecdotes from the event included praise for Cerf's signature three-piece suits and his deliberate choice to stand out through attire.
Bring back crappy forums
a month ago
- Usenet, the early forum-like system, had over 110,000 newsgroups but declined in the late 1990s.
- Web forums emerged as an alternative to Usenet, with the first software, WWW Interactive Talk (WIT), developed in 1994.
- Key historical forum software includes Ultimate Bulletin Board, Slash, vBulletin, phpBB, and Discourse, each influencing internet communities.
- BBCode, created in 1998, allowed controlled text formatting in forums and influenced modern tools like the Godot game engine.
- Forums lost popularity to social media due to novelty, scalability issues, and the appeal of newer platforms like Digg and Reddit.

Hasty Briefsbeta

internet history

What We Lost When We Quit Using Crappy Old Web Forums

Museum of the Human Web

The 'Father of the Internet' is finally retiring

Bring back crappy forums